Hirsute!!

About 20 years ago I decided that I couldn't put up with the endless time taken to remove the hairs on my legs.  I had tried shaving, waxing, depilatory creams and bleaching - all with limited success.  The trouble is when you have very dark hair - as mine once was :) - it shows and can make you feel very self conscious.  So my solution was to have laser treatment.  All those years ago it wasn't so commonplace and finding a clinic providing this was difficult.  I went to a place now called Sk:n in London. I had many treatments as individual hair grows at different rates and zapping them all takes time.  I started out with a "ruby" laser which targeted individual hairs that is one at a time - you can imagine how long this took!  This laser was replaced by an "alexandrite" which covered a small area at a time.  Both were very effective. I was told that they work best on dark hair as the energy is absorbed better. It was so worthwhile - it was like being free…..

Modern lasers are now available like  UPL - ultrashort pulse laser which emits ultrashort pulses of light. 

You can also buy home lasers now which are quite powerful - like the one by Tria - above.  I bought this one as even all these years later stray hairs still appear…….really useful for underarms, lip and dare I say chin!

My husband also uses it to thin out his "5 o clock shadow" which annoys him!  So not only for women!  Men need grooming too!

Have you noticed how some men neglect their eyebrows??  Tweezers and scissors can work wonders on eyebrows which have grown to be unruly with age - doesn't take long and takes years off them!

As you get older hair does change and hairiness varies but it is important to continue grooming and being concerned about your appearance - you look better and younger!

Developing interests.....

Always loved painting - so nice I can indulge my self and do the things I have always wanted to do .......like painting my granddaughter!

We all have had to pursue careers which paid the bills.... still have these thoughts about how nice it would have been to pursue a career I really wanted......................

Friday this and that......

Remember my last but one post on taking vitamin supplements.......  well interesting that attention has turned to children under 5. Apparently there has been an increase in rickets which is put down to lack of sunshine vitamin vitamin D.  There are all sorts of reasons as to why this is happening.  However at this youn=g age I am not really in favour of giving them a daily pill as has been proposed - surely we should start with looking at their diet and also making sure that they have time to play outside??

What do you think??

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/children_shealth/10402346/Itll-take-more-than-vitamins-to-stop-children-getting-rickets.html

Even though my grandchildren have very fair skins and one is a redhead they still are encouraged to play and enjoy the elements!

**************************************************

Just finished mixing the ingredients for my Christmas mincemeat and the kitchen smells wonderful with the combination of fruit, nuts, oranges, lemons, apples and spices.  Just waiting until the morning for its 3 hour stint in the cool oven tomorrow.  So easy and so much better than bought!!  Thank you Delia Smith for the recipe - I have used this for years and I always look forward to it!  :)

**************************************************

Yesterday my husband said   "would you like a little outing"  - I smiled enthusiastically - thinking shopping, lunch.........

It turned out being a trip to the dump!!  All he wanted was the company as he had already loaded all the surplus to requirements into our car.  In some ways it was enjoyable as we both have this need for decluttering and tidiness and clearing the decks.

There's nothing worse than housing things for the sake of it and taking up valuable space.
Also as you get older hoarding is often referred to as a "senior trait" - so determined not to be categorised in that way!!  I must say our recycling centre is amazing there are so many containers for so many different things which can be used in some way.

So maybe its time for your clear out !!!

.......I did get taken to lunch afterwards :)

Cream of the Crop.................

My husband was reading the newspapers and saw an article on a face cream for menopausal women and mentioned it to me as ...he is interested in these developments in next generation creams  from the scientific point of view and also knows that I, like most women are very interested in anti ageing goods.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2455521/The-face-cream-skin-glowing-menopause--pot-set-85.html

Now there have been many claims of creams providing life changing effects on the skin and I am highly sceptical about their claims.  However this particular cream, Stratum C is designed to boost collagen which apparently we can lose significantly during the menopause - up to a third.

Here are some of Stratum C's claims and information on their site........

"Collagen-stimulating peptides and Hyaluronic Acid work 

together to combat the effects of menopause as well as 

natural sources of Vitamins A and E (something the skin lacks during menopause).

Two unique combinations of peptides have been formulated showing the following results:

• Muscle relaxation – muscles are relaxed helping to reduce stress and tension within the skin.
• Collagen production is stimulated – clinical trials have shown up to a 70% increase in the production of collagen, helping to improve elasticity and skin tone.
• Increased moisture content – Hyaluronic Acid holds 1000 times its own weight in water making ti the perfect ingredient to help increase moisture content within the skin.
• Smooth, supple skin – Key ingredients including Jojoba Oil and Apricot Oil leave the skin feeling soft, smooth and much more supple once more."

I am not a person who goes in for spas and facials but I am quite receptive to trying some of these new products - so armed with this justification in my head for  the spend of £85 .....I bought a pot on line :)

I was quite pleasantly surprised at the size of the pot of cream which arrived and the volume of cream it contained.  It was also encouraging to read that it is recommended that you use a pea shaped amount twice a day on cleansed face.  So on this basis it should last a long time (more justification!)

I have been using Stratum C for a fortnight and I am cautiously declaring that I have seen a difference.  My skin feels smoother and fine lines have diminished significantly.  (my husband also confirmed this).  It is early days so will let you know what I think after 3 months! 

Here's looking for a miracle :-)

Popping Pills......................

I was watching a programme on TV last week  "Trust me, I'm a Doctor".  They were looking at why

people take vitamins. They said that if people had a balanced diet, then people would get all the vitamins they need from their food and they concluded that most people who take vitamins excrete this surplus to requirements in their urine - so a waste of time and money.

You can't really argue with a logical argument so why do we take these supplements?  Certainly my husband and I do.  I feel like the pharmacist in a morning counting out the pills!! Maybe its psychosomatic as we believe in the practice or maybe there is this fear that maybe we don't always get what we need from our particular diet?  All I know is that my husband and I on the surface seem fit and healthy.

There has been one occasion when my husband suddenly came out in a rash, and it was itchy and irritating and also unsightly. After seeing our doctor and a specialist they concluded it was probably psoriasis.  He has no history of this in his family and he found it hard to believe that this was the case.

My husband was a Research Chemist and maybe his training helped him to overcome this particular problem. He tried to think of any unusual contact with chemicals or something new he had eaten or drunk.  To cut a long story short he concluded that because we try very hard to keep out of the sun and the fact that he spends a significant part of the day indoors working on his computer... this sudden appearance of a rash could be down to vitamin D deficiency.    Well it was worth a try as the prescribed pills and lotions were not having any significant impact.  So he started taking vitamin D regularly and the rash started to fade and after a fortnight the rash had completely disappeared. Now some could argue this is just coincidence but we tend to think that my husbands remedy was correct.  So this had lead us to be less strict about sun  exposure although still careful.....and  we take a daily vitamin D tablet.

At the moment we are taking 5 as you can see here.......we buy tablets online from either Healthspan or Woods as it is much cheaper than buying on the High Street but we also buy vitamin D, a multivitamin

and a low dose aspirin from Boots.

We have our reasons for taking this combination and they work for us. This is very much a personal decision and  what we are taking may not be doing us any good but the quantities we take will probably not be doing us any harm!

At our age we feel we are doing our best in managing to keep fit and healthy..............still a bit of a lottery :)

Do you have any anecdotes to share??

10 meals every child should be able to prepare!

In these health  and cost conscious times it is more and more important to cook yourself so that you know what is going in a meal  is healthy and by having a little knowhow it does not have to be costly.

When I was at primary school in the 50s I can't remember one overweight child.  Our mothers cooked nutritious meals for us and this is despite having full time jobs.  Many mums had an array of meals they cooked regularly and which did not take a great deal of time to prepare and cook. 

I followed on from what I learned from my mother and even when work demands were really high I would spend a couple of hours at the weekend preparing dishes for the week which I would freeze.  In this way we ensured having a good meal ready for every evening of the week. By cooking you can also reduce costs quite significantly. 

 I followed a woman at the checkout at our supermarket this week  and she counted out 4 spaghetti bolognese ready meals which didn't look very appetising but also would cost much more than home cooked

Mary Berry (the Great British Bake Off host) gave a speech at the Cheltenham Literature Festival and she talked about the need to bring back domestic science lessons back into schools and said.........

'It should be that every child when they leave school can do 10 meals, because when they leave home they've got to be able to eat healthily."  

http://www.maryberry.co.uk

This is just great practical common sense advice and being taught in school is an ideal solution for those who don't watch and learn at home.  I started to think about what were my 10 staple everyday meals  we eat on a regular basis.....

shepherds pie

fish pie

corn beef hash

hotpot

chicken casserole

beef stew

spaghetti bolognese

vegetable curry and rice

roast dinner

lasagne

moussaka

in fact there are 11 here and for all except the roast dinner I would prepare in advance and maybe freeze. These with a portion of vegetables are healthy and filling and satisfying. When my children were at home and going through faddy periods as to whether they liked veg or not I would often "hide" carrot by grating it into several of the dishes.  There is nothing nicer that a warm wholesome meal on a winters night and even better sitting round the table together to enjoy it! 

Can you name 10?




(Mary Berry is 78 years old and living life to the full!)

Just a minute......

Just been watching Nicholas Parsons on the Alan Titmarsh Show.  Absolutely amazing - he is now 90 years old and as sharp and as witty and as clued up as ever. Although I must say in his earlier career he was perceived as quite irritating however he has experienced what could be called a rehabilitiation and a renaissance.

He is probably most well known now for chairing "Just a Minute" on Radio 4. This presents a challenge for him as he explained as he has to control some very intelligent and quick witted individuals and keep up with them.  His combination of humour and sarcasm is just right as he makes the whole experience fun.

He said that he will continue working until the public give up on him as what else would he do.  He went on to say he treats the brain as a muscle and needs to be exercised in order to stay in good shape - what brilliant advice for all of us!

What really makes him happy at 90 ?  Work, family and his garden............

Lessons to be learned for all of us!!